'Haunted Hallways' uses many horrors to tell story of CASHS Crazies

CHAMBERSBURG -- How did the CASHS Crazies get so crazy? Well, it was a regular day until a chemistry experiment went terribly wrong...

To find out more, you will need to go through the Haunted Hallways at Chambersburg Area Senior High School.

CASHS Student Government put together the event, happening 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. tonight and Saturday. Admission is $5, and proceeds go to the Trojans Care Fund and the senior class trip.

Visitors will begin their journeys in a classroom where they will watch a video of CASHS Student Body President Colton Elbel, stricken insane by what he has seen. He tells the story of what happened to turn the school into what it has become.

Guests will then move on to experience why he warned them to watch out and be quick, in a CASHS where they will encounter nearly every kind of horror story.

"There's gonna be a little bit of everything. We put every great scary theme together and they will come to life in (these hallways)," said actor and senior Tyler Reasner.

Insane creatures terrorize in a maze of lockers. Creepy clowns stand up high, ready to "grab" anyone that walks by (actors are not allowed to touch anyone though). Butchers severe bloody body parts, and offer them up to visitors. Huge spiders take over. Thick fog blocks off sight in the haunted forest, to the advantage of creatures roaming there. Demented patients bring the asylum alive.

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Ghostly creatures appear out of no where. Zombies feast on their prey.

While Haunted Hallways is recommended for ages 9 and older, there are at least two parts that organizers believe some adults may even find too scary. So, before visitors get to those last areas, they will have the opportunity to skip them if they want, organizers said.

"The last two are supposed to be 'make you wet yourself' scary," Reasner added.

Students who will be portraying the many maniacs and monsters of Haunted Hallways were inspired by popular movies and TV series including "American Horror Story," "The Walking Dead," the "Halloween," series, "Nightmare on Elm Street," and others. The zombies even had help from a teacher who was actually in a zombie movie.

Haunted Hallways is the opportunity for students to practice their love for horror in a way they haven't before.

"I always wanted to do something like this," actor and senior Calvin O'Farrell said. "I'm looking forward to scaring some of my friends."

Junior Colton Walker said he is looking forward for "people to be as scared as they should be."

Reasner estimated that between 60 and 80 students were working to bring Haunted Hallways together. Much of the preparation involved gathering materials and putting them together, in the end making a portion of CASHS unrecognizable.

Many elements were made by the students. For example O'Farrell used gelatin, sausage casings and spaghetti to make guts and intestines for the zombie area, and the zombie actors gathered at Reasner's house to make tombstones.

Most supplies and materials were acquired via community donations, CASD spokesperson Tammy Stouffer has said. Students also gathered unused items from around their homes and the school, Reasner noted.

CASHS Principal Buddy Chapel said an event like Haunted Hallways took place at his old high school in South Carolina, but that CASHS students "took it to a whole new level."

Students from different groups helped make that happen, he added.

"Lots of kids are here that, some are in band, some are in sports, but the majority is the art kids, it's the music kids, kids in different groups. You get a cross section of kids that you normally wouldn't get," Chapel said.

By working together on Haunted Hallways, student participants are helping out their whole school community, since proceeds go to the Trojans Care Fund, to provide financial assistance to students facing life-changing events, and to help offset the cost of the senior trip.